Now that you’ve learned about pollinators, go out and see them yourself! There are lots of parks and protected areas where you can appreciate these increasingly rare organisms. Some of the best books and additional websites that will help you identify what you see are listed below. If you’ve got a smartphone, consider adding photographs of the species you see to our PlantSpotting App.
Museums
Great museum exhibits on prairie ecosystems may be found at:
- The Manitoba Museum,
- Royal Saskatchewan Museum,
- Royal Alberta Museum, and
- Canadian Museum of Nature.
Parks and protected areas to visit
Many national, provincial, regional and even urban and suburban parks protect prairie habitats and have hiking trails where you can view wild plants and pollinators. Some of these parks also have small interpretive centers.
National and Provincial Parks
Alberta:
- Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park, Alberta (Fescue and Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Elk Island National Park, Alberta (Fescue Prairie)
- Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park (Fescue Prairie)
- Gooseberry Lake Provincial Park (Fescue Prairie)
- Hand Hills Ecological Reserve (Fescue Prairie)
- Kennedy Coulee Ecological Reserve (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Kleskun Hill Natural Area (Fescue Prairie)
- Little Fish Lake Provincial Park (Fescue Prairie)
- Milk River Natural Area (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Park Lake Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Red Rock Coulee Natural Area (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Sheep River Provincial Park (Fescue Prairie)
- Tilebrook Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Twin River Heritage Rangeland Natural Area (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Writing on Stone Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
Saskatchewan:
- Batoche National Historic Site (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Blackstrap Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Buffalo Pound Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Crooked Lake Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park, Saskatchewan (Fescue and Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Danielson Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Douglas Provincial Park, Saskatchewan (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Echo Valley Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Fort Walsh National Historic Site (Fescue and Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park (Fescue Prairie)
- Grasslands National Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Pike Lake Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Prince Albert National Park (Fescue Prairie)
- Rowan’s Ravine Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park, Saskatchewan (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- The Battlefords Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
Manitoba
- Asessippi Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Birds Hill Provincial Park, Manitoba (Tall Grass Prairie)
- Criddle/Vane Homestead Provincial Heritage Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Pembina Valley Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba (Fescue Prairie)
- Rivers Provincial Park (Mixed Grass Prairie)
- Spruce Woods Provincial Park, Manitoba (Mixed Grass Prairie)
Private Nature Preserves
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/) owns and manages prairie preserves throughout the prairies, including the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in southeastern Manitoba, the Old Man on His Back preserve in southwestern Saskatchewan and the OH Ranch in southern Alberta. Many of their preserves can be visited by the public.
Urban and Suburban Native Prairie Parks
Prairie preserves don’t just occur in the countryside; many small parks occur in and around major prairie cities as well.
Calgary, Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Medicine Hat, Alberta
Regina, Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- Beaver Creek Conservation Area
- Cranberry Flats
- Saskatoon Natural Grasslands
- Wanuskewin Heritage Park
St. Albert, Alberta
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Books to help you identify plants and pollinators
Plants
- Ames, D., P.B. Acheson, L. Heshka, B. Joyce, J. Neufeld, R. Reeves, E. Reimer and I. Ward. 2005. Orchids of Manitoba. Native Orchid Conservation Inc., Winnipeg, MB.
- Johnson, D., L. Kershaw, A. MacKinnon and J. Pojar. 1995. Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland. Lone Pine, Edmonton, AB.
- Kershaw, L.J. 2003. Alberta Wayside Wildflowers. Lone Pine, Edmonton, AB.
- Kershaw, L.J. 2003. Manitoba Wayside Wildflowers. Lone Pine, Edmonton, AB.
- Kershaw, L.J. 2003. Saskatchewan Wayside Wildflowers. Lone Pine, Edmonton, AB.
- Kershaw, L.J., J. Gould, D. Johnson and J. Lancaster. 2001. Rare Vascular Plants of Alberta. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, AB.
- Reaume, T. 2009. 620 Wild Plants of North America. Nature Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
- Royer, F. and R. Dickinson. 2007. Plants of Alberta. Lone Pine, Edmonton, AB.
- Vance, F.R., J.R. Jowsey, J.S. McLean, and F.A. Switzer. 1984. Wildflowers Across the Prairies. Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC.
Pollinators
- Acorn, J. 1993. Butterflies of Alberta. Lone Pine, Edmonton, AB.
- Acorn, J., and I. Sheldon. 2000. Bugs of Alberta. Lone Pine, Edmonton, AB.
- Bland, R.G. and H.E. Jacques. 1978. How to Know the Insects. 3rd Edition. Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa, USA.
- Imes, R. 2000. Beginner’s Guide to Entomology. Chancellor Press, London, UK.
- Klasssen, P., A.R. Westwood, W.B. Preston and W.B. McKillop. 1989. The Butterflies of Manitoba. The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg, MB.
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall and J.D. Lafontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press Inc., Toronto, ON.
- Marshall, S.A. 2006. Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity. Firefly Books, Richmond Hill, ON.
- McAlpine, J.F., B.V. Peterson, G.E. Shewell, H.J. Teskey, J.R. Vockeroth, and D.M. Wood (Coordinators). 1981. Manual of Nearctic Diptera Volumes 1 & 2. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Monograph Nos. 27 and 28. Canadian Government Publishing Centre, Hull, Quebec.
- White, R.E., D.J. Borror, A.C. Borror and R.T. Peterson. 1998. A Field Guide to Insects. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA.